Chapter 6 - THE SON IN SOFIA’S WILL
Gianni denied ordering Sofia’s death.
Completely.
For once, Luca believed him.
Not emotionally.
Factually.
The payment trail did not lead to Gianni Russo.
It led to another Russo.
Stefano Russo.
Gianni’s older brother.
Officially dead for twelve years.
Killed in a warehouse fire during the last Romano-Bellandi war.
Except Sofia had found evidence Stefano survived.
And had been working under a new identity.
For Vittorio.
The family history began unraveling.
Stefano blamed Luca’s father for abandoning him during the war.
Vittorio rescued him.
Then used that loyalty.
Over a decade, Stefano became Vittorio’s invisible fixer.
No official connection.
No records under his birth name.
The perfect man to order crimes nobody could trace to the family.
Gianni looked destroyed.
“My brother is alive?”
Luca stared at him.
“You didn’t know?”
“If I knew, I would’ve found him.”
Emma believed that.
Pain recognized pain.
Then Rosa woke properly.
Luca visited her with Emma and Matteo.
Rosa cried the moment she saw the baby.
“Give him to me.”
Emma did.
Matteo settled against the nanny instantly.
So much for Emma being magical.
Good.
Babies needed familiarity.
Not destiny.
Rosa confirmed she had seen Vittorio inside the nursery the morning she crashed.
He asked about Matteo’s formula.
She found it strange.
Then while driving home, her brakes failed.
But Vittorio had not touched the formula himself.
A woman had.
Luca’s aunt, Teresa.
Vittorio’s wife.
Was she part of the plan?
Rosa shook her head.
“I think she believed she was helping.”
Vittorio told Teresa the usual formula caused Matteo’s crying.
She switched it.
The six-hour nightmare may have been manipulation, not attempted poisoning.
Create chaos.
Remove Rosa.
Make Luca look incapable.
Why?
Then Gianni found the answer.
A petition.
Drafted but never filed.
Seeking emergency guardianship of Matteo.
Basis:
Luca’s violent lifestyle.
Emotional instability after Sofia’s death.
Failure to provide appropriate infant care.
Witnesses prepared to testify Luca screamed at staff while the child cried for hours.
Emma stared at the pages.
“They were going to use the restaurant.”
“Yes,” Gianni said.
“The crying.”
“The doctors.”
“The guards.”
“Everything.”
Vittorio wanted Luca declared temporarily unfit.
Not forever.
Only long enough to trigger trust control.
But Emma’s hidden protector clause ruined that.
If Luca became incapacitated, control moved to Emma.
That explained why someone needed her identified.
Then another surprise.
Sofia’s will contained a sealed codicil.
Not about money.
About Matteo.
If Luca died, she did not want Vittorio or any Romano elder raising him.
She named three possible guardians in order.
Her sister, Elena Bianchi.
Gianni Russo.
And if neither could serve—
a court-selected guardian independent of both families.
Not Emma.
Good.
Sofia had not absurdly given her child to a stranger.
She had given Emma only temporary financial veto power.
That made sense.
Then Luca received a call.
Elena Bianchi had disappeared from her home in Boston.
Her security camera showed her leaving voluntarily.
But the last message on her phone was from Sofia’s old number.
Impossible.
The phone had been in evidence for five weeks.
Someone had cloned it.
Message:
I know who killed your sister. Come alone.
May you like
Elena had walked into a trap.
And whoever took her was systematically removing every person Sofia placed between Vittorio and Matteo.
